Blake Masters, the COO of Thiel Capital, President of the Thiel Foundation, and a close associate of GOP and Trump billionaire mega-donor Peter Thiel the co-founder of PayPal, Palantir Technologies, and Founders Fund is running for Arizona’s US Senate seat currently held by Democrat Mark Kelly. Masters is no stranger to the Arizona political scene or the national stage as head of a PAC which raised over $3 Million for Republicans in the Arizona State Legislature. He’s a relative unknown to the public but is well known to the movers, shakers, and fundraisers of the GOP.
In a candidacy announcement he released via Twitter, Masters explained his positions.
“Our leaders have shipped millions of jobs to China, and the internet, which was supposed to give us an awesome future, is instead being used to shut us up,” he said. “We are up against a media that lies to us, schools that teach our kids to hate our country, and corporations that have gotten so big, they think they’re bigger than America.”
“It’s time to put this country first. It’s time to enforce the law, and we need to finish the wall,” he added over video of him walking in front of the U.S.-Mexico border. “We gotta build an economy where you can afford to raise a family on one single income.”
“I fear that we are losing the country,” Masters told The Associated Press. “I want my kids to grow up in an America that works like the one I grew up in. I want them to grow up in a country that I still recognize.”
“I’m doing what I think is right,” Masters said. “I think Peter and I agree on a whole lot. He obviously sees something in me. I’m grateful for it.”
I'm running for U.S. Senate in Arizona. Let's take this seat back. https://t.co/AwujIooQjb pic.twitter.com/tSBFymzSoG
— Blake Masters (@bgmasters) July 12, 2021
Peter Thiel Gives His $10 Million Blessing
Masters indeed has the blessing and a $10 Million dollar infusion into the pro-Masters Saving Arizona PAC from Thiel as Politico reports the renowned Libertarian tech entrepreneur is leaning into the 2022 Congressional race heavily,
“Thiel is emerging as one of the biggest donors of the 2022 election cycle, spending heavily to bolster close associates who are seeking office. He recently cut a $10 million check to a super PAC supporting author J.D. Vance, who is expected to run for Ohio’s open Senate seat. Thiel has previously provided financial backing to Narya, a Vance-co-founded venture capital firm.”
Blake Masters enters an already crowded GOP Primary field with strong contenders like Arizona’s popular Attorney General Mark Brnovich, former Adjutant General of the Arizona National Guard Maj. Gen. Michael “Mick” McGuire, Jim Lamon, a Solar Power Businessman and GOP Donor to GOP Chair Dr. Kelli Ward’s 2016 Senate Run and relative unknown Rober Paveza, a Software Engineer and teacher.
Mark Kelly’s Senate Team Is Scrambling and Scared of Blake Masters
Kelly’s campaign is flailing with accusations that Thiel’s “out of state money” somehow disconnects the Arizona raised, Tucson native Blake Masters from his home state. According to The Hill,
“Barreling into the race with $10 million in promised outside spending from a California billionaire, Blake Masters can’t even pretend he’s running to actually represent Arizonans — he’s trying to buy his way to the Senate. Masters’ candidacy only serves to make a chaotic, expensive, and absurd GOP primary that’s centered around President Trump, not Arizonans, even more volatile,” party spokesperson Sarah Guggenheimer said in a statement.
So says the campaign for the gun-grabbing former Astronaut turned ultra-leftist Senator from New Jersey. Blake Masters’ campaign funds might come from California’s Peter Thiel, but most of Mark Kelly’s money comes from China.